Faculty, Eastern Michigan come to terms

YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) -- Faculty at Eastern Michigan University have tentatively agreed to contract terms with the school's administration after working seven months under terms of an expired contract, the two sides said Tuesday. Faculty members went on strike for 12 days the day after the old contract expired Aug. 31. They ended the walkout after endorsing the appointment of an independent fact-finder who drafted the proposal that won tentative approval Tuesday. The compromise calls for salary increases of 3.5, 4.06, 3.75 and 3.88 percent over the next four years. Faculty will also receive a 1 percent contribution toward retirement plans spread out over the last three years of the contract, the American Association of University Professors said in a release. The fact-finder's report also endorsed the administration's proposal to implement health-insurance premiums that would cost professors on average about $1,000, depending on individual health plans. The administration and faculty agreed in principle to those terms last week. Spokesman Ward Mullens said the university would not confirm details of the tentative agreement because it wanted union members to have a chance to review them first. The agreement must be ratified first by the union before it goes before the Board of Regents for approval April 20, he said. "We have been working to get our members a fair contract for quite some time, and we are happy that we are able to present them an agreement that includes reasonable compensation increases comparable with other universities," Howard Bunsis, president of the university's chapter of the AAUP, said in a statement. University President John Fallon said in a statement posted online that he was pleased the two sides reached the tentative agreement, adding, "This demonstrates the tremendous commitment that both groups have to our students."